They score, they defend, they win, they dominate. With each victory — after victory after victory after victory — the Broncos have developed into a team with no noticeable weakness, no drama, no serious issues, no real sweat of defeat.

The Broncos have just about all the qualities of an NFL powerhouse, except variance.

All teams occasionally stumble against inferior opponents. They even made a movie called "Any Given Sunday."

The Broncos, though, were supposed to whip the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and they did, 34-12, before another sellout crowd at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

"It's always good when your 'hands' team gets a lot of work," Broncos tight end Joel Dreessen said.

The late-game onside kick of desperation has become commonplace for opponents of the Broncos, who have won 10 in a row by an average score of 31-17.

Yes, the Broncos have been tremendous. Tremendously boring in their repetition.

"Boring for who?" said an aghast Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

"Be quiet," said Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, laughing at the thought. "Lose and it's boring. Win and it's boring. Never happy. I guess the only thing it's going to take is a ring."

There was once a great line in a song: "I can't complain but sometimes I still do."

The Broncos haven't lost since Oct. 7 at New England. During this 10-game streak, the Broncos have outscored their opponents 308-172.

To the teams they trounce, the Broncos are as maddeningly methodical as Manning. The veteran quarterback had another 300-plus-yard, three-TD game against the Browns as he continues on with one of the most stunning comebacks in NFL history.

His aura, his sense of perfectionism, has become the personality of this winning streak.

"He has a great deal to do with it," Bailey said. "The first day he got here, you knew what you were going to get from him. The only question about him was his neck. You see how that worked out."

Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker celebrates after scoring in the first half against Cleveland. More photos. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Manning had four neck surgeries last year, forcing him to miss his final season with the Colts. His recovery has been steadfast. He completed 30-of-43 passes against the Browns and has eight games of at least 300 yards passing and eight games of at least three touchdown tosses in his 15-game Broncos career.

Every week seems to be the same for this guy. Ain't it beautiful?

Not so beautiful for Cleveland's Sheldon Brown, perhaps. An 11-year NFL cornerback, Brown had great coverage on Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas in the end zone in the first quarter, and was draped on Denver's other top wideout, Eric Decker, near the goal post in the second quarter.

Touchdown. Touchdown. The Broncos were up 14-3 at halftime.

"I wouldn't say he had great coverage on me," Thomas said. "He was behind me."

No team has played better in the past 2½ months than the Broncos, a run that has gradually, steadily brought about an opportunity to become the conference's No. 1 seeded team entering the postseason. With Houston losing to Minnesota at home Sunday, the Broncos and Texans are tied for the AFC's best record at 12-3 with one regular-season game remaining. The Texans hold the tiebreaker because they beat the Broncos this season, way before Manning could adjust to life off the operation table and before the defense of coordinator Jack Del Rio could take hold.

Cleveland RB Trent Richardson is taken down during the first half by the Denver defense. More photos. (Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post)

For the Broncos to capture the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs until the Super Bowl, they must beat the 2-13 Kansas City Chiefs next week at Mile High and hope the Indianapolis Colts defeat the Texans.

"It'd be nice if they somehow won that game, but we have to keep our one-game-at-a-time mentality," Dreessen said. "We know if we win this one, we get a week off."

Ten in a row already is enough for Broncos coach John Fox to give his players the next two days off, Christmas Eve and Christmas, before resuming practice Wednesday.

With a week remaining, the Broncos can finish as low as the No. 3 seed and as high as No. 1. The difference is significant enough for Fox to not consider starting rookie Brock Osweiler in place of Manning next week against the Chiefs.

And the Broncos need some fine-tuning before the postseason begins. Late in the second quarter, as the Broncos were working on what seemed certain to become a game-clinching, 94-yard touchdown drive, Browns safety Usama Young picked off a Manning pass in the end zone. Miscommunication was the culprit as Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno ran a flag route while Manning thought his running back would cut off his pattern at the goal line.

But all that did was remind Denver's D it needed to carry on with its suffocating play. Von Miller, the Broncos' superb outside pass rusher, had 1½ sacks to give him 17½ this season, which broke the team record Elvis Dumervil set: 17 sacks in 2009.

"Just trying to get better this week is all we're thinking about," Manning said.

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